Greer Stevens Defeats Chris Evert at Avon Championships of Florida (January 23, 1979)

Miss Evert Upset By Greer Stevens

Jan. 24, 1979

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 23 (AP) - Greer Stevens of South Africa upset Chris Evert, 6- 2, 6‐3, in Miss Evert's hometown tonight in a women's professional tennis tournament.

Miss Stevens hit strong fore- hands and maintained steadiness with her usually shaky backhand.

“I'm numb,” said the 21-year- old Miss Stevens, who had ex- pected to be eliminated and fly to Dallas tomorrow to qualify for the next tournament on the tour.

This was only her second event since she injured a knee last May. “I didn't play well last week be- cause my forehand wasn't work- ing,” she said. “Tonight I hit every forehand as hard as I could.”

“Greer played very well,” Miss Evert said. “She never let me in the match. She's a hit-or- miss player. And she wasn't missing.”

Greer Stevens (born 15 February 1957) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa.

Career

Stevens in 1980 reached a career high singles ranking of world No. 7 and the Wimbledon quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. With Bob Hewitt, she won the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon in 1977 and 1979 and at the US Open in 1979.[2] She also played for the Boston Lobsters of World TeamTennis. She retired in December 1980 after competing in the New South Wales Open, having had her career best year.[3]